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Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to the organizers of the conference – the Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus – for the invitation to participate and the opportunity to address such an august audience.
The initiative of the Republic of Belarus to convene an international conference on Eurasian security certainly deserves the highest praise. The fact that the conference is being held for the third consecutive year in the beautiful hero city of Minsk is indisputable evidence of its relevance and strong demand.
The idea of developing the Eurasian Charter of Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century, first announced by the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation at this venue in 2023, deserves attention as an aspiration to form a truly just international order, rejecting the narratives of global confrontation and block thinking. The unprecedented intensification of ties between European and Asian countries and their associations in the trade, transport, communications, financial and humanitarian areas, which was not the case in previous decades, makes it imperative to build a continent-wide security architecture.
In the current context of geopolitical rifts and new dividing lines, multilateralism and inclusivity are becoming the only viable approaches to ensuring peace and stability. The new security architecture on the Eurasian continent should be aimed at overcoming these dividing lines and creating a common and indivisible security area for all.
Unlike the European subcontinent, where the security architecture had been established and functioned over the past decades, although not without problems, but has now been severely eroded and entered a deep crisis, no such common system has yet been created in Asia. We are now witnessing the emergence of its prototype, with regional organizations multiplying and engaging in closer cooperation. I dare say that the dynamics of building a security architecture in Asia are generally taking a positive vector.
There is a growing understanding that security is impossible without ensuring economic and social development, resolving humanitarian issues, searching for answers to civilization- and culture-related questions. There is a growing global understanding that the achievement of sustainable development goals is key to lasting security.
Therefore, a special role is being played by associations of states focused not on rallying traditional allies, but on forming a circle of like-minded people, building bridges, a broad dialogue, and searching for common grounds for cooperation. I would venture to say that the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia takes a special place among them.
The main goal of the CICA Member States is to build an architecture of security and cooperation in Asia based on the principles of the UN Charter and international law, transparency and mutual trust.
Today, CICA, uniting 28 countries, is the largest and only pan-Asian forum providing its Member States with a platform for open dialogue and decision-making based on such fundamental principles as inclusivity, strict consensus and voluntariness.
CICA countries sometimes have very divergent views on certain issues on the international agenda. However, strict adherence to these principles helps them to effectively interact and develop solutions, focusing on what unites rather than divides them. With its widest geographical reach, broad agenda and diverse tools, CICA is fully capable of consolidating the collective wisdom of the Asian nations in the interests of peace, cooperation and development.
CICA has obvious advantages, such as a sensitive attitude to the geopolitical reality, a low level of politicization, a pragmatic approach to interaction in certain areas with a unifying agenda, the absence of block thinking, and genuine equality of participants.
CICA has long transcended the scope of a dialogue platform, with its activities becoming increasingly tangible every year.
The practice of adopting thematic statements and documents is expanding. At the Sixth CICA Summit held in Astana in October 2022, the Member States adopted the CICA Leaders’ Statement on Cooperation in the Field of Security of and in the Use of Information and Communication Technologies and the CICA Plan of Action on the Implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, which became the first regional document of such scale. In 2023, the CICA Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs adopted the Statement on Promoting Volunteerism for Sustainable Development. Last year, the CICA Ministerial Conference adopted the High-level Statement on Environmental Issues. Most recently, this September, the CICA Ministerial Council adopted the Statement on the 80th Anniversary of the End of and Victory in the Second World War and the Statement on the 80th Anniversary of the United Nations.
Over more than three decades of its development, CICA has established a number of advisory bodies, such as the Business Council, the Youth Council, the Think Tank Forum and the Partnership Network of Leading Universities, and this September, two new institutions were created – the CICA Finance Summit and the Women Council.
Recently, the CICA Business Council and Think Tank Forum jointly prepared and published an e-book entitled “SME Landscape in Asia: Interactive Guidebook”.
A special mechanism, the CICA Fund, has been operationalized, and together with the Islamic Organisation for Food Security and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), it has used the attracted funds to implement this year the first project providing agricultural assistance in the form of wheat seeds and fertilizers to 300 farms in Afghanistan.
As a recognized supporter of multilateralism and an experienced participant in international diplomacy, Azerbaijan assumed the chairmanship of CICA in December 2024, taking it over from Kazakhstan, the founding state and host country of the CICA Secretariat.
Azerbaijan’s Chairmanship is guided by the theme “Stronger CICA, Connectivity, Digitalization and Sustainable Growth in Asia”, with priority given to advancing the transformation of CICA into a fully fledged international organization, ensuring the effective implementation of confidence building measures and enhancing synergy and interaction with other international and regional platforms.
Expanding cross-sectoral interaction is among the main objectives set by Azerbaijan. The Chairmanship’s priorities cover several areas of cooperation, ranging from engagement with the youth and academia to strengthening the economic dimension, with due attention given to transport, digitalization, climate, agriculture, cultural heritage preservation, cultural exchanges and cybersecurity.
Azerbaijan’s priorities are built on the legacy of the previous chairmanships and the accumulated achievements of CICA, while promoting innovative approaches. This demonstrates consistency and continuity within our organization.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The international community is becoming increasingly convinced that genuine and lasting security can be ensured only through a comprehensive approach that encompasses the political, military, economic, humanitarian, environmental and other interrelated aspects of international relations.
This approach can gradually melt the ice in relations and create opportunities for cooperation where none existed before. I believe that the future of Eurasia lies precisely in such structures and associations that serve to erase dividing lines and create new areas of interaction in their place. Such activities are consistent with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations – an organization with no alternative, which will continue to serve as the backbone of international order and cooperation in the future.
As an organization for pan-Asian cooperation, CICA is both capable of and destined to become the Asian pillar of the new Eurasian security architecture. The uniqueness of its membership and the breadth of its agenda make CICA a valuable complement, rather than a counterweight, to other regional formats such as the EAEU, the SCO, ASEAN and others.
The future of international security lies in multilateral diplomacy. Only the strengthening of genuine multilateralism based on confidence building measures can provide an adequate response to the challenges of our time and demonstrate a transition from confrontation to cooperation built on dialogue and the development of confidence building measures.
I am convinced that the discussions at our Conference will make a positive contribution to identifying solutions to security issues that will be effectively implemented.
I would like to conclude by wishing the Conference every success and its participants an engaging and fruitful discussion.
Thank you for your attention.
